Scratch
by Spicies
Summary: What better way to impress the guy you love than to steal a sample of his DNA and bioengineer a child using both your DNA samples? Chack
1. Intro

At one point, Jack was told no one would ever follow him. He'd tried the whole partnership deal and even the team idea. Those failed miserably. And the only ones who would follow him were his robots. The damn things didn't exactly have a choice, or the capacity to question.

However, Jack Spicer was an evil genius. He was fucking brilliant. Therefore: he'd come up with a solution. Soon.

He groaned as a release to his anger. Peeling off his leather trench coat, he frowned at the sight of himself in the mirror. Finding new bruises was never fun.

His eyes moved from the bright red of his hair to the matching colors in his eyes and... his... shirt. The green face printed on the tank-top was practically screaming at him.

Frankenstein. It was so easily conceivable that he HAD to berate his own self in his head for not thinking of it sooner. If asked, he'd have to blame his late entry into puberty. The whole concept of getting an heir or child of sorts never really came up until about two years back. The obvious fact of him being fifteen already was not to be called into question. Anyone who would try that should go eat their own shit as far as Jack was concerned.

Jack clasped his hands together, eagerly cracking his knuckles purely out of habit.

Rather than starting off with corpses and doing the whole zombie route... starting from scratch seemed to be a better idea. Well, not from scratch, having the correct DNA samples to work off of would be a great start... This was really an epic project to undertake. Instead of trying to appease Chase Young on his own and trying to sap off of others... he'd simply create a warrior to fight for him. He wouldn't need people to follow him or help him if he simply created the help.

He'd tried robots before, but this would be different. This would be much different. An real LIVING warrior.

He'd have to make sure they were smart and strong to help... Someone with deceptive skills and, perhaps, a knack for kicking ass. After being involved in the Xiaolin-Heylin conflict for so long, Jack was ready to admit he sucked at fighting.

Though, it wasn't like anyone was going to train him. One of the more logical reasons Jack wanted to be under Chase young's tutorage was so that he could learn to fight.

Fat-fucking-chance of that ever happening.

He was already planning to use some of his own DNA, but looking at the bruises forming on his arms--ones he had just previously earned from losing another showdown--he was pretty sure he'd need someone really strong to go along with it.

Well, who was the strongest warrior he knew...? Does that even have to be a question? The real issue with that would be obtaining DNA from the immortal.

A piece of hair wouldn't exactly suffice... It'd work out alright and all, but a sample of the blood would be much better. Jack wasn't all that good at genetics. He wasn't as skilled with it as Ashley--Katnappe--was, but having a photographic memory would probably solve that and his own ingenuity could make up for the rest...

Jack rushed away from the mirror. He was already dead-set on making this dream a reality.

---

Just four days later and things were working out smoothly for the future ruler of the world. Jack let out a contented sigh as his feet hit the ground. He wasn't the first one to the newly activated shen gon wu, but he wasn't all that concerned by it. He looked over to the monks who held the light yellow candle. Apparently it was able to create a light bright enough to blind any surrounding opponents.

That'd be great to have if you were surrounded, but Kimiko held the candle and Omi was jumping in front of his friends to begin the trademark speech. Something along the lines of "We already have the wu" "you are a loser" "butchered slang" the end. Jack had been tuning out most of what they said for the past year now.

Jack just smiled. He'd been smiling a lot nowadays and to continue that thought, this would probably be the last showdown he'd attend for quite a while. He could be patient for this project, but the monks apparently weren't as they moved into their fighting positions.

Well, this was the last chance he'd get to test 'em out. "Jackbots." He snapped his fingers, and the dozen hand-built automatons rushed out. They were different though. That was why Jack was here and not fighting back the urge to drool over his work back at the lair. They had a new, sleeker design. He had to thank the reruns of the new BSG that had been playing on the sci fi channel. Those Cylons were almost amazing as Chase Young. Almost. Well, they were nowhere near close, but they were the second most awesome thing he could think of.

He'd have to move them to third, though. His little project at home would have to take second place now.

"You seem distracted, Jack." A sneer happily fell from the lips of the witch as she moved over to Jack. He hadn't even noticed she was there. Many things got past Jack though.

Now that he had been shoved out of his reverie, he was pleased to see the monks struggling at the more agile and buff robots. "Can it hag. I'm in a good mood; I don't want you to ruin it."

She hated hearing that, her face clearly told that. "You insolent brat."

Despite everything about Jack that made him weak and a coward, he'd never given up talking down to people. When his life was in danger he did tend to bite his tongue, but he was always insulting people, at least in his mind. He didn't think he'd ever grow out of that. It'd probably started at some point during the bullying at school. Jack was no masochist, at least he was pretty sure he wasn't, but he'd only recently learned to not spur on his attackers with insults. Some people just made it too easy; like Omi, but Omi could probably kill him.

The amazing fact that jack was still alive added to his smug mood.

"Wuya," A regal voice began slowly. "Don't you have something to do than get into a pointless argument?"

Jack's smile broadened. Just seeing the evil lord was nice. Yep. Today was a great day. Once the showdown was over he'd have to sit down before the project with some pudding--banana chocolate, of course.

"Spicer, wipe that smile off your face and focus." Chase was glaring at Jack now, but that didn't matter. Jack would take the advice he could get. It was rare he got any.

Turning back to the monks, Jack caught sight of the candle fall from the Japanese girl's grasp. It hadn't been very helpful against the new Jackbots. He activated his Helipack and rushed forward furtively.

Having been obeyed so quickly by the usually... theatric teen was a rare occasion. Chase quietly fell into his own thoughts as he watched snatch up the wu. What was probably even more interesting to Chase, and also uncharacteristic of Jack, was that instead of gloating on the spot, the teen actually moved higher up and had a few of the robots to move before him like a shield.

It seemed so... off. Even the monks were still as they waited. Surely something had to be happening. The evil genius waved the wu for all to see with a content; and very smug grin. "I feel like I should inform you all that I'll be away for some while... So you'll all just have to prepare and dread the day I come back to steal all the wu!" He attempted the usual evil laugh, but it was rushed and he was moved backwards as he did it. He wasn't escaping; he was simply in a rush to be somewhere else. It was odd, both sides would admit, but no one had any time to say anything as Jack sped off, the eight remaining bots following after him.

Chase folded his arms, seeming to take great interest in the sky. Wuya had started ranting, but much like how Jack had tuned out the monks, he was tuning out the witch. He frowned. The odd actions of the boy weren't showing off maturity, but... as Wuya had said: he was distracted. His mind was preoccupied with something else and so he didn't put any thought into acting his usual "oh Chase I want your babies", "don't kill me", or "the wu is mine" (usually when it isn't).

Chase hummed with a very relaxed composure. He'd have to go visit Spicer later to find out what was causing the red head to abandon his usual eccentricities and fan-boy behavior about him.


	2. Starting off

Wow so I went to check my email and found all these notifications of people reviewing and adding my story. X D Wow. I wasn't expecting that… at all. I mean… I wasn't expecting anything so… wow. People whose stories I have read and adored long before I even made this account are suddenly reading this… That's so weird, but I love you all (platonically, but love is love). Thanks! I'll try to be original and amuse you all. ; ) I'll upload the next chapter right away since I ended up finishing that one before this one… Sorry.

---

"Ew."For the sixth time Jack expressed himself. He simply had to grimace at the sight. Fetuses don't look shit like babies. Babies are cute--when they're dry and asleep--but this thing looked like a slug.... a slug with appendages and bug eyes. The creepy gold eyes continued to stare back at Jack from the giant tube. The eyes were mocking him; Jack could tell. It had the same eyes as Chase when Jack was doing something wrong (i.e. ridiculous) or when Wuya made the mistake of opening her mouth.

"At least it's working." He thought aloud. It was only two hours ago when he'd have had to look at it under a microscope. "Grow faster..." He urged, but he really wasn't worried or rushed. It looked better now that the eyes had started working, though.

Despite how alien the creature was looking, he was quite enthused it was working at all. Having only a hair sample of Chase's to work with, he did have some worries when he was planning it out, but it sufficed. Actually, he didn't have a choice about it, but a blood sample would have made it easier. But Chase Young bleeding? No. Never.

"Master," Jack turned to face the new Jackbot. "The packages have arrived."

"Excellent!" He beamed. "Bring them down!"

"You have to sign for them, master."

Frowning, Jack looked back to the giant test tube. It didn't seem right to leave it while it was incubating... Not that it'd even finish doing so that day, but Jack was obviously the sentimental type. He sighed and moved up the steps from his lair into the more homey part of the house. He was always annoyed to see how empty it was, but Jack told himself that he should have been used to it. He didn't particularly like feeling bad, so he tried to push that sort of thought away.

As Jack moved up the stairs—going off to sign for the various things he'd need for the creature—he completely missed the very intrigued Dragon arriving in the shadows of the cluttered lab. Chase first saw Jack leaving the room, but the second thing he saw kept him in place. He made a small noise of amusement and moved to stand before the giant tube. Not only was Jack theatric, but his experiments were as well. Chase had the belief that the giant thing didn't need to have so many wires sticking out and that it didn't need to be so large. It was just gaudy as it was now. And—

The creature began to wiggle in the tube, its eyes boring into the Chinese lord. Chase interpreted this as a challenge, of course. In any case, that's probably what it was. "What, exactly, are you supposed to be?" He wondered aloud. It wriggled about some more, as if hearing him. The dragon smirked. He was often amused by Jack's inventions; however he was also often annoyed at how Jack could create such advanced contraptions, but never use them in the appropriate manner.

Chase was riding on the hope Jack would grow out of that.

He looked away from the wriggling fetus-creature the moment he heard the door open. It took a moment for what Jack was seeing to catch up to his brain. Of course, the chain of cuss words streaming in his mind had to happen just after that.

"Chase!" He threw his arms up and grinned as big as he could muster—which was quite big, actually. "What's up?"

Folding his arms behind his back, he looked back to the golden eyed thing in the tube. "Spicer, what is this?"

Another slew of cuss words danced on Jack's tongue. It was a tough decision to make for him: tell the truth (and possibly die) or lie (and survive). Surviving seemed best. Jack wasn't very good at surviving, but he did try. Effort does amount to something. "It's my latest, greatest creation!" He declared, truthfully. "It's," Quick, what kind of animal has gold eyes besides dragons and cats? "Wolf DNA mixed with human." Jack trained his eyes on the wriggling creature. He couldn't very well lie to Chase's face. Even if he consciously could, the dragon would be able to tell. However, juggling the thoughts of lying and his fondness for the fetus would help hide his blatant lie.

"You're creating a slave?" This greatly interested the immortal.

Jack hesitated, then corrected. "I wouldn't call it a slave… Maybe a pet?" That had to be against some kind of child service law.

Chase tilted his head to the side, his expression neutral until the creature managed to tilt its own head to the side. "It seems very…"

Jack's head whipped around towards Chase. "Amazing? Ingenious? Awesome?"He was just teeming with hope, now.

"Smart." Chase cast Jack a wry look. It was amusing to see Jack seeking approval, but it wasn't anything new. "Your pet seems smart… You said you used wolf DNA?"

Chase frowned when Jack's eye twitched, but Jack didn't notice his slip-up. "Yes, yes, yes… I used my own DNA, too." He nodded his head and looked about the room. "Yep. Wolves to… maul the Xiaolin losers."

Chase let a low growl reverberate from his throat. The only consolation for his actions was the jump Jack gave when the young teen swung his head back to Chase. "Spicer, is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

Jack pressed his fingers together, hoping that the gesture would allow him some more time to weigh his options. He really didn't have any time, after all—Chase was starting to walk over towards him.

Jack's watch began beeping and Chase stopped in his tracks. It was perfect, cliché timing; as if the writer gave up trying to put something else into the scene. A Shen Gong Wu had activated, and lo and behold, it was one Chase needed to keep from the monks. Yay for Jack.

Chase gave another low growl as he looked away from Jack and to the giant test tube thing. "We'll continue this later."

"Uh, how about when it's done…" Stalling was good. Stalling was great!

Chase frowned, but then caved. "Alright then. Next time you come to a showdown, we'll continue this."

---

That had been yesterday. This new day—sun greeting the Jackbots working in the garden—was much more exciting. Jack wasn't as lucky to get greeted by the sunrise, but it was a greeting that got the adrenaline pumping through his system.

The loud crash of glass was what woke him up.

"Yes!" Jack shouted as he ran into the lab. The test tube was broken, glass littered about around it. His squeals of joy were greeted by a growling. Jack's life just seemed to be filled with growling as of late. Anyway, it wasn't looking at Jack. The small thing—very similar to a one year-old at this point—was busy looking at the sharp glass around it. "Hi!" Jack cooed. Honestly he could think of no other way to greet his… child.

The gray hair was odd. The rapid-maturing agent could be blamed for that. He didn't take all the effort and time (and risk) of making the creature just to be his kid. He made it to do a job. It had a purpose to fulfill. The duration when it would not be physically mature was when it would be most venerable and of little use. If he ever needed to repeat this process, he would probably fix that.

The small thing turned about, looking with wide pastel yellow eyes to Jack's effervescent red. After a moment, it giggled and reached out for Jack, grabbing at the air with its—her hands.

He voiced his utter glee and quickly stepped around the glass to pick his… daughter up. "Were you stuck? You're so smart! Just like me!" The child grabbed his face with its matching pale skin and pushed his skin about like clay.

She gave an alligator smile to Jack and giggled again.

"Jackbots!" The robots swooped in, cleaning the glass while another handed him a plate of food. "Since you have Chase's DNA," He addressed the girl. "Meat and proper supplements for you!"She squealed happily, making Jack regret trying to juggle the girl and the plate.

Jack handed the plate back to a robot and moved into the home above. Even if he was confident she wouldn't get hurt in the lab, it'd be better to take her to the kitchen. It was just plain reason that brought him to that. Although she was essentially a tool for his plans of world conquest, he still considered her important on a more sentimental level. He prized the lives of his robots in the same manner. Anyway, he wanted the very best for their… Hm.

Their child, so to speak, but those sorts of details can be overlooked.

Oh, how Jack would suffer if Chase found out… He'd die; not only from getting mutilated, but also from embarrassment. Jack frowned and ignored the girl tugging at his pajama shirt. If anyone took the time to ask whether or not he loved Chase, he would immediately confirm it. Chase's evil legacy, his appearance, his personality… his mere presence: Jack loved all of those qualities and came to love them in that order.

A loud, angry whine erupted from the girl, demanding his attention. He looked down to her with a wide smile. "Right." He took her into the kitchen and set her down on the island. One of the robots quickly dressed her, which Jack was surprised to see. Jack had instructed the robots to do such, yes, but the girl didn't seem to be at all bothered by it. It was like she knew. That might have been the case, but it really couldn't be proven either way at this point. "I'm Jack Spicer. You're… Uh, well, I created you from my DNA and the infamous Chase Young's DNA."

Jack placed his hands on either side of the child and studied her. In his opinion she looked an awful lot like Chase, but frail in addition to that likeness. The gleam in her eyes seemed to contradict any weakness he saw, but time would tell, he guessed. Like Chase, she just screamed of nobility.

Now she screamed for food, but Jack knew that such a smart infant could multitask. He took the plate back from the robot and held it out so she could grab each bite-sezed chunk she wanted.

While he ate, or rather, as she stuffed them into her mouth and swallowed, Jack started to frown. "Let's hope you won't grow too fast… otherwise all the clothes I ordered won't fit you…"

---

Three days later, Jack decided that he hated crayons. Along with clothes and countless information books on the world—both past and present to properly educate the future villainess—were other children items like toys and crayons delivered to his door. Now, green was a nice color. Jack obviously attributed it to the Asian sex God he so reverently worshipped. Having green crayon on not only the walls but also many of the robots made him hate the damn crayons.

"Edel!" He shouted, quite irate. (He chose the name Edel carefully. Edel means noble and bright.)

Slowly, the now-toddler walked into the lab where Jack was. She held the ends of the black dress she wore and smiled. It wasn't an innocent or guilty smile, oh, no. It was cocky and extremely amused at the situation she was in. "You like green. It's a nice color, isn't it, Jack?"

His grimace softened, just a tad. "I'm throwing your crayons into the garbage incinerator."

"Okay, but I'm bored." She walked up to Jack, still smiling.

"Bored? Um… Either read your books or watch some footage,"

Her yellow eyes widened. "Footage?"

Jack nodded. "Remember the Shen Gong Wu I told you about? The robots record everything they see, so you'll be able to watch most of a lot of the showdowns. It'll be good for you to put names to faces and learn their fighting styles."

Edel grabbed onto Jack's trench coat and tugged down on it. Jack had to fight to stay standing. "I want to see one with you and Chase!"

He chuckled with a mixture of anxiety and regret. "I…" He wanted to say no, just to be stingy, but he couldn't say no to his cute little daughter—or anything with Chase's genes for that matter. It wasn't a choice, he really couldn't. "I have a couple files for that…" He resigned to pulling away from her to grab one of his laptops laying nearby. He opened it up and handed it to her. "Just click on.. this file, and they'll play."

She let out a sound of joy, a perfect imitation of Jack.

"I'll be working…"

Edel bobbed her head excitedly. She ran out of the basement with the laptop and Jack was left alone again. He groaned, running a hand through his hair and slipping his goggled over his eyes.

If he would have had to go through years of this, he would have gone insane. (Or more so.) "No wonder my parents gave up on me."

Meanwhile, Edel was clenching her fists while watching the footage with glowering eyes. She was as expressive as her creator in many aspects like that. "Insect." She repeated under her breath. Jack, whether he noticed or not, was always talking about how "awesome" Chase Young was. Always. Seeing the famous Chase treat her only parental figure like a bug was not what she had expected or wanted to see. How could she share genes with such an ungrateful bastard? Her current line of thinking resulted in the options of killing Chase Young or… getting him to be a more properly suited mate for Jack.

Love was just teeming in the air, it seemed.


	3. Puppets are funny

Note: Uh, just to throw out there for anyone who may get angry: I don't have anything against Katnappe or Wuya. Oh, wait, that's a lie. They were mean to Jack. : )

---

Omi and Jack both rushed out to grab the Wu, both expressing a determination that was pretty overkill for the routine showdown. Well, it wasn't really a routine now. Jack had broken it when he went off for a month. But he was back now. The monks had only enough time to grin before the Wu was spotted. They were happy to get their source of entertainment back, the pricks. Jack would show them. Well, perhaps it'd be more correct to say Edel would.

Anyway, Jack and Omi were diving for the Wu and… yes, here's where the fun part comes in. Chase's eyes widened ever so slightly at the realization. He had thought it was just a monkey in the tree, but he was wrong. As Jack and Omi touched the brown orb (some sort of sister Wu to the Orb of Tornami) a pale hand reached down from the tree branches and touched it as well. Upside down, sleek, long gray hair spilled out as a precursor to the girl in black.

Edel smiled darkly, still upside down as she spoke. "I challenge you to a Shen Yi Bu Dare."

"Who are you?" Omi shouted, an odd smile coming onto his face without him even knowing.

Jack relaxed his body and grinned triumphantly. "We wager my Monkey Staff and the Shroud of Shadows. I'll sit this out." He added the last bit with more relief than anyone would ever be able to tell.

"You're Omi, right?" She cooed from the tree as her eyes looked over the stout yellow lad and then turned to the other monks. "In person, you lot seem weaker."

"Hey!" Kimiko shouted, growing livid. Frankly, though, no one cared about her. Her friends were all watching intently as the strange girl jumped out from the tree, still keeping a sharp, black nail on the orb. The short cut, tight leather dress-jacket left quite the impression on the male monks.

Jack was beaming. (He picked out the clothes for her.)

Chase came closer with Wuya following as per usual. Wuya was an awful lot like a leech in respects to how she acted with other people, but Chase had yet to be bothered enough by it to kill her. "Spicer, this is your creation?"

Before Jack could respond—and with his bright expression it was noticeable he wanted to—Edel snarled. She snarled loudly and very much on purpose. "What reason do you have for being here when it isn't an important Wu?"

Kimiko easily matched Edel's snarl—it must be a girl thing by the looks of it. "How would you know which of the Wu are more powerful?"

Edel inclined her head to Jack, not at all offended by the Japanese girl's snarl. Jack just shrugged. "I sneak into your Temple all the time. You think I'd be too stupid not to take some pictures of what's on that scroll thing?" He was slightly offended, and slightly smug as having to confess that.

Chase watched the banter, hiding his interest with his usual smirk.

Omi waved his arms and jumped over to the unfamiliar girl. "But! Why do you know what Jack knows?"

Edel grinned, not minding the boy's behavior. "He told me since I'm his precious daughter."

That floored everyone but Chase.

Jack's smile broadened and quickly turned to a leer as he moved to pat Edel on the head. "Yep. Took me some time to make her, but it was worth it!" The monks' jaws could not drop even farther. Then Jack remembered something. "Oh, Edel, don't snarl at Chase. He might kill you. Or me." He nodded casually as he spoke.

It was common sense to Jack, but Chase was actually insulted that Jack would have thought that of him. He couldn't say anything about it, though. He didn't have the right to argue that he wouldn't. Appearances must be maintained and all that.

Edel tilted her head to the side in a curious manner. "But I hate him. Expressing disdain is enjoyable." This, too, was common sense to Edel. It was just innate in her to act candidly and as puckishly as she could. Two guesses as to why.

Jack groaned (much like how Chase wanted to at his words). "Don't hate him, then. He'll kill you."

"If anyone tries to do such to you, I shall personally skin them and have the Jackbots wear their organs as hats." She smiled at the funny visual and the disgusted sounds of the monks.

He rubbed his forehead, and then gave a soft glare to the girl. "You're the strongest female Heylin, but not the strongest Heylin."

"What?" Wuya shouted in an enraged manner. Jack loved to brag, even when he didn't have anything to brag about, so it was to be expected Jack would say something of that nature about his little Edel. "What lies are you babbling about now, Jack?"

Edel huffed and folded her arms. "When I have the time, I'll stop by and prove it by beating those unhealthy presumptions out of you." She turned over to Omi before the old witch could respond. "We've all gotten sidetracked. Shall we continue with the showdown?"

"Ah, yes! You are right!" The orphan monk pointed to her exuberantly. She just smiled. He reminded of a dog—a puppy to be precise. "I shall wager the Orb of Tornami and the Tangle Web Comb."

"Great, it's a race to the Wu, then." She picked up the orb and held it up. In unison they shouted: "Gong Yi Tenpai!"

As soon as the tall rock bridge rose up in the air, the path they were on narrowed so that there was no chance of them being able to run side-by-side. Edel had no intention of racing, though. The second Omi moved to take a step forward; she brought her leg down on his neck. It wasn't hard enough to damage his spine, but enough to have his head crash painfully hard into the ground.

He was out like a light.

The monks shouted angrily as she leisurely walked over to the Wu, won, and then back to Jack when the area returned to normal.

---

"Hello!" Edel shouted she slipped into Chase Young's throne room. Once Jack had told her what the Tiger's Claw did, she was quick to use it. Two Jackbots flanked her as she took a few steps further in. "Hello!" She shouted once more.

Large, irate cats jumped out to circle the intruder, but… most stopped in confusion, the others continued to growl, albeit more lightly and unsure than before. She smelled similar to Chase, but also like Jack. It was no surprise they weren't sure how to respond to her presence.

She waved a hand dismissively at them. "I've come to pay visit to the old witch." A panther darted off to bring the witch as the others remained as they were. There wouldn't be any problems if it was just Wuya the girl wanted, that's how the panther saw it, at least.

Wuya walked into the throne room just a few minutes later, the panther not far away. "You!" She said accusingly.

"Me. Edel. Yes." She nodded. "I'm here to beat you up." When Wuya glared, she decided to elaborate. "I really don't about your little delusions of grandeur, but I do need to beat you up for all the things you've done to Jack."

Wuya was scowling, but then a thought came to her. "You know… You do seem to be a rather impressive villain, much better than Jack. You could do much better with…"

Edel sighed and closed some of the distance between them. "Don't bother. Jack is mine. I don't plan to leave him, or let him go. The whole reason I'm here is to fight for his honor, after all."

"Why?" She demanded.

"As I said, he's mine." Edel grinned in response to Wuya's terrible glare.

After a moment of rather amusing tension between the two, Wuya threw her arms up in exasperation. "You're as possessive as Chase!"

"Well, duh." Edel scoffed. Honestly, the woman was pretty stupid for being so old. With age does not come wisdom, apparently.

Folding her arms, the tan red head stared hard at Edel. "How is that supposed to make sense?"

"Well…" Edel drawled. "I've got the DNA of the smartest villain… So to make things even better, I also happen to have the DNA of the strongest villain." She shrugged with a small smile.

"You…" Wuya was frozen in place.

"M'kay, I'm going to go steal from the monks now. They need some loving too, I think." She waved her hands happily at the shocked witch. "Oh!" Edel ran over and punched Wuya in the nose. As the witch's body fell back, she giggled as if innocent. "I almost forgot!"

Wuya shrieked and placed her hands over the bleeding mess that was her face.

"Bye!" She used the Tiger Claws to open a rift and spanned her fingers once for the two robots to follow.

---

Chase watched quietly as the showdown concluded. Clay had lost to Katnappe—but what was worth mentioning was the lack of Jack and Edel. He had missed the opportunity to ask Jack what he had been lying about, so the boy should have shown up to this showdown so he could find out. Unfortunately, and its not clear to whom it was unfortunate, Jack did not show up.

The monks were flying off on the annoying Dojo as Katnappe started running off. Chase was about to teleport away when he suddenly caught scent of Edel. She came towards Katnappe, flanked by two large Jackbots.

"Auntie Ashley. Nice to meet you. I see you beat me to getting the Wu from the monks…"

The Catwoman reject glared quite, forgive the pun, cattily. "Me-ow. Who're you supposed to be? Jack's test tube baby?"

Edel's smirk matched one often seen by Chase. "Precisely. Now give me the Wu and I'll let your cats live."

Katnappe laughed. "No way! Meow!"

Edel shrugged at the foolish girl's choice.

Chase could not understand how something from Jack's own blood could be so devilish. A cat (or kitten, if you will) lunged for Edel, but she swiftly grabbed the arm of one of the robots and pressed a hidden button. A large saw blade came out from the hand and Edel easily used it to decapitate the cat.

Katnappe screamed and the other robot fired a laser though the remaining kittens.

"Do I need to reiterate or did you want to join them?"

In utter disbelief that she was related to Jack, Chase watched on as Katnappe dropped the Wu and ran off crying. That, surely, was a breed of cruelty that he reigned over. There was no way this evil creature could be from the impish Jack. Jack was a villain, but not a cutthroat killer like Chase and this girl were. There was just absolutely no wa…

Oh.

His gaze narrowed as he watched Edel pick up the cat head and ram her head through the nat's neck. She giggled, exactly like Jack, and began parroting Katnappe's meowing as she moved the head like a hand puppet.

That was something Jack would do. The boy was always fine around blood that wasn't his and such an unnecessary and foolish antic was screaming of Jack.

He teleported closer, his hands clasped behind his back so as not to give the impression he wanted a fight. "Very nice."

She looked to him, grinning madly despite having not noticed him before. "Of course it is. I'm awesome like that."

Ah, Jack's ego. Chase decided he liked the girl a little better. Initially he hadn't liked her simply because she was so expressive about her own hate for him. Why she hated him alluded him, but he honestly didn't care about her reasons. It probably had something to with the way he treated Jack. Even he was often disgusted by his own actions. The boy was just too adorable whenever Chase saw him. But, that's all Jack was to Chase. An adorable boy who was bound to get hurt one of these days if he didn't shape up. "And why are you awesome, Young Spicer."

"Just Edel. Not Spicer." She chided. Edel then lifted up the cat's head towards him and covered her mouth with her free hand. As she spoke, the head moved to act as if it were the one speaking. "I'm awesome because Jack's awesome and… You think highly of yourself, yes? Jack loves to go on and on about you're awesome too, and you act like you know it."

This was very amusing to Chase. "You say you hate me, but admit to me being awesome?"

"Jack says you're awesome, so you are. And…" She seemed hesitant to continue. "And he gave good reasons as to why you're awesome."

"What were those reasons?" Genuinely, he was itching to know what words Jack used to describe him when Chase was not in the cute boy's presence.

"His reason is, in short, because I'm awesome."

He frowned, glaring calmly at her now. "You speak in riddles."

"No." She shook the cat's head. "It's quite simple. I'll leave you to think about it." She dropped the cat head and started walking back to the Jackbots. "You can stop by around six for dinner and ask Jack yourself, but, if you hurt Jack, I'll make marionettes out of your lions."

"No petty threats against me?" He asked condescendingly.

Edel laughed. "Jack would cry if you got hurt. Why would I want to make him cry? I love him. You should never make your loved ones cry… outside of bed." She added the last part coyly. She left using the Tiger's Claw after the Jackbots had gathered up the forgotten Wu.


	4. Try the soup

Note: Hey, someone asked about Edel's age in/around chapter two… I was going for five, but it's pretty ambiguous since Edel just matured so quickly. Yeah. I knew a five year old who would throw things at me. She was like a ninja. She would throw CDs like ninja stars at me and disappear behind corners… Um… She left bruises on me… Anyway, I love you all! Here's the next chapter!

Jack bit down on the wire cutter in his mouth, singing along rather incoherently to the music. He wasn't even thinking about the music and he didn't need to. He had the music playing so loudly it was vibrating the thick walls of the basement. It was background music. It was there to keep the atmosphere in place. There was nothing more and nothing less than that. Jack shifted forward in his chair to twist his hold on the clamp and dig further into the large contraption. Having Edel around was actually pretty inspiring.

He didn't want to settle for having just her, but… Eh. He'd been struggling for the past few hours to accept the futility of the situation. It was a big coming-of-age thing, like in those eighties movies.

The clamp he used to hold back the other components locked into place with a click. Jack scooted back in the chair and sat up more properly. His head was still banging with the beat of the song, but not a thought was put into to the music still playing. He removed the wire cutter from his mouth and dove back in to make the appropriate adjustments.

He was too busy to notice the rift behind him made by Edel. Now entering the darkly lit lab, Edel quickly placed her hands over her ears and frowned. With a brief glare to a Jackbot, it sped off to lower the music. She walked over to Jack and sat down on the table, to the right of the large chunk of metal he was working on. He saw her; she was sure of that. The goggles didn't make much of a difference to his sight, and she was right there. They continued on like that in silence for ten or so more minutes. It was fairly nice for the both of them to enjoy the company of another. For Jack it was because he was unused to it, and he truly enjoyed being around the girl he was so proud of. The anecdote of her also reminding him pleasantly of Chase was a wonderful addition to that. Edel was fond of the silence merely because she wasn't used to such things. She was new to everything. The books and her above-average brain usage made things much easier for her to mature and such, but her grip on the world was still pretty theoretical.

Jack was the first to break the silence. "Neat, blood. What happened with the showdown?"

She mused over the words for a minute, unsure if this really was the end to the agreeable silence. "Mutant cat blood." She held up the hand that had been intimate with the cat head earlier. "Ashley gave me the Wu she had gotten…. Oh, and Wuya's blood, too."

Jack finally moved away from the machine to fully focus on her. "What?"

She smiled and began fiddling with her long hair. "I broke her nose, and it looked bloody, so I'm guessing there's some blood that's hers."

Behind the yellow goggles, Jack's eyes were narrowed in confusion. Well, females in nature were known to be more vicious. "Alrighty then."

Happily, she pointed over to the cabinet they kept the Wu in. "I got two off of Ashley for you, killed her kittens, broke Wuya's nose, and even invited Chase over—so tonight us three can celebrate!" Listing off her accomplishments, in her mind, was supposed to please Jack.

They did not. Not really. He was quiet, repeating her words over and over in his head. Then, "You did what! You invited Chase over!"

Edel pursed her lips. "Well, we have to celebrate this day. And you always talk of him so fondly, it seemed only logical that you would want him to be with you to celebrate."

"Why do we need to celebrate?"

"But it's your birthday." She looked him over incredulously. "You're supposed to celebrate."

"No." His tone of voice rose slightly. "I just relax and use the day to work on things." He shook his head, as if disgusted. "No parties or dinners or anything. It's not an important date."

Edel reached out and mussed the flamboyant red locks of Jack's head. "No gel or showdowns today, just sitting in front of… Whatever that thing is?"

"Yeah." He knocked her hand away before getting distracted. "It's going to be awesome when it's finished. I've been working on the plans for it for over a year now; if I can get it working, then it'd be a great addition."

"Addition?" Edel smiled, happy that he had forgotten all about being angry for the inevitable dinner party she was planning. "You mean an addition to me and the Jackbots when fighting the monks?"

"No, no, no!" He said with a big, dark grin. "There's a warehouse in Egypt I've got set up—been steadily building stuff and adding to it for a while now."

Her smile dropped a bit as confusion became more abundant. "Why?"

"For when I take over the world." He answered as if she had just asked the stupidest question in the world.

He let Edel take a few minutes to review the information in her head, both smiling now. "Why do you go after the Wu, then? Why not take over now?"

"Well," Jack pushed his goggles up to his forehead, excitedly beginning to explain. "Wuya is all about magic and Chase has got pure strength as well as magic. The monks are also skilled and all that with the Wu and fighting. The more Wu I get, the more tests I can run on their properties. The Xiaolin-Heylin conflict is a big obstacle. I mean, if I tried now, I'm sure they wouldn't be able to stop everything I've got, but by the time I've finally stopped them, everything would have been destroyed. That'd be just some pretty awesome chaos. I wouldn't be able to rise into power that way… Anyway, I'm trying to combine the magical properties of Wu into my machines and I'm uploading all the footage of the monks' fighting style so the A.I. units can act accordingly while fighting. And I've got to make them immune to Wuya's magic. I have to make the stuff strong enough to last against Chase."

"Um… But… Chase Young is…"

"Yeah, yeah, the biggest problem." That flat-out astonished Edel in a very obvious manner. "But this is why I'm waiting. I've got to be successful in order to get him to accept me and stuff."

"Oh… Oh!" Edel nodded, calming down. She slipped off the table and took a few deep breaths. He was trying to take over the world and go against the Heylin and the Xiaolin side to _impress_ Chase. "Jack… Do you like Chase?"

"Yes." She simply adored the way he didn't hesitate. "But," That was a word Edel decided to hate. "All I'm hoping for is to get to be called an ally of his. Someone he'd work with or depend on. That's all I want, really."

Edel wanted say that was bullshit, since it obviously was, but instead decided to prod. "Why just that?"

"Well," He began, finding the question to be pretty absurd. "I'm mortal and he hates me. And—"

"I'm immortal, right?"She interrupted.

"Yes." He didn't see where this was going at all.

"Can't you just, like, find whatever it is that makes me and Chase immortal and replicate it?" Edel moved her hands about in circles as she spoke, visualizing it in her head, but unable to correctly show Jack. "I mean that soup stuff in Chase, he needs to have it replenished and all that but you made it able to… to…"

"Replicate." He supplied.

"Yes, replicate, you were able to do that to my genes, so why not do that to yours?"

Jack's mouth opened and closed a few times. Then, after the surprising accomplishment of widening those already large red eyes, he bolted up. "I should do that!"

Edel placed a hand on his shoulder before he could run off. "Tomorrow."

"What?"

"Dinner is in two hours. And Chase is coming over." She teased her fingers through her messy gray bangs with a sly look. "If he hates you, he won't come. But he doesn't hate you, so he'll come. You should probably change out of those messy clothes."

---

Chase returned home to… a rather… interesting scene. The stench of Wuya's blood hung in the air. He was immensely surprised. He was under the assumption that the woman had hit menopause some hundred years ago… This was just not possible.

"Chase!" He turned to see Wuya running towards him, wanting sympathy from the pleading look on her face. The white strips over a red, swollen nose gave reason to the smell. She ran up to him and stopped, waiting.

"Yes?"

She scowled. "Don't you want to know what happened to me?"

He gave her a dubious look. "Have I ever cared for your wellbeing?"

Wuya gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. "Do you know what Jack did?" She demanded. "That little…" If Chase found out about Edel's origins, then how would he react? It really did puzzle her. Would he want to destroy the girl, or would he decide to train her more properly. Wuya knew as sure as Jack was gay that he wouldn't be able to train her to fight properly. One could only get so far watching videos and reading books. She let out an exasperated sigh as she was calming down. Men were a mystery to her at times. Human men weren't but men like Chaser were.

Chase folded his arms and smirked. "Did the girl hit you?"

She nodded, being extra careful with what she said. "Yes."

"Did she say why?" He never missed a beat. After all, Jack was the only one could surprise him or leave him speechless. Everyone else was predictable and boring.

Grumbling, Wuya folded her arms. "Something about Jack's honor…" It was awfully immature of her, but then again most of the Heylin's current batch of villains weren't much better.

"Hm." Chase turned away from the parasitic witch. He reluctantly reminded himself of Edel's repetitive hints. Only Jack would be ignorant enough to do something of that nature without asking permission. Reiterating the words in his head had made the meaning abundantly clear, but it was still hard to accept. It explained why Jack had lied back then, and it explained… pretty much everything. Everything seemed to calm down a bit now that he knew though.

How in Hell had Jack managed to create a being without magic? Chase had once been acquainted with an alchemist who tried, without success, for years to create a homunculus. Chase could only assume Edel was similar to that. The test tube he remembered seemed to be a mere incubator. It was almost unbelievable that a mere boy of… of…

"Wuya, how old is Jack now?"

"Uh…" She dropped everything she herself had been musing over (whatever it was it wasn't important) and gaped at him. "He's… He's… not legal!" She practically shouted now. Clearly her mind was more perverse than anyone would have imagined for someone so old. "He's only fifteen! Or… Oh, yes, he should be sixteen, now." She nodded furiously with a scowl to match. "He's far too young. Only sixteen. Just sixteen."

He watched her for a moment more, but even he couldn't resist the charming smile that soon appeared. "I should wait two more years, shouldn't I?"

She made a strangled noise and her shoulders convulsed slightly.

He chuckled lightly at the sight and turned away from her. There were no doubts in his mind that a dinner with Jack would be even more entertaining than Wuya withering about in such a panic. That was saying a lot since Wuya in pain was pretty enjoyable.

---

As per usual, Chase didn't relinquish his armor despite knowing there would be no threat at Jack's. No one would ever complain about it, though. He did look rather good in it. Anyway, his Jack found his hauteur to be desirable. Everyone knew that—it was a good trait for a villain to have and even Wuya would occasionally express her admiration of it. She had a fair amount of it herself as well, but that was beside the point. The point was, after mentioning all this, was that Chase looked good at the moment and he most certainly knew it.

He teleported into Jack's mansion. The first thing he saw was jack's back to him, shouting at Edel.

"I'm not wearing a tie!"

"But you need to wear it!" She whined, not particularly caring that Chase was directly behind Jack.

"Why?" He demanded.

Edel heaved a sigh. "It'd make the outfit better." And it would provide an easy wrist-tying device since Jack didn't wear a belt. She didn't say that part out loud, but she wanted to just to have him put it on.

"No." He dropped the red tie onto the ground before her. Jack then turned around to leave the room, but ended up running face-first into Chase's chest. He was used to crashing into the armor, but it always forced a "meep" out of him.

"Good evening Spicer." He smirked down at Jack's shell-shocked expression.

"You're… here…" Jack slowly backed up from Chase, wrapping his mind the idea of Chase actually showing up for dinner.

"I was invited."

"Right." Jack slowly nodded.

This wasn't going fast enough, though. Not as far as Edel was concerned. She cleared her throat and motioned towards a long gray table. "I'll get the food. Sit."

Jack moved his attention towards her. "That's a bit impolite, ya know."

"I don't care, much." She licked her bottom lip. "Anyway, I'll be right back!" She ran out of the room and the two males were left alone.

Chase motioned gracefully towards the table and Jack obeyed without even thinking. Chase honestly had to hold back a laugh at seeing how cute Jack was looking so shocked and… and seeing that the button up shirt, although black, was made up of very soft and thin material. Chase firmly believed that his skin would be softer than the shirt.

"So, uh, thanks for coming, Chase… I… uh… I didn't plan this… Or… uh…" Jack looked down to the table, frowning in slight annoyance. Edel was difficult to deal with most of the time, but all females were like that in Jack's opinion. She was great, but very… mysterious. Mysterious and demanding—too many women in Jack's life were like that to be healthy for him.

"I assumed as much, Spicer." He sat down on the opposite side of Jack just as Edel came walking back into the room.

She quickly moved up to the table with a smile plastered on her face. Edel set down a metallic stray with three bowls of soup. She was smiling like a little boy who'd just got his first porn magazine. "I made the soup myself." This clearly meant that they would have to have some. "The rest the robots did as usual."

Chase looked over to Jack. "The robots cook for you?"

"Yeah… It won't be anything good like you're used to, but… it's nutritional." Jack's nervous smile was delightful, but Chase could hardly understand how the food would be nutritional when Jack constantly looked underfed and lacking in the health department.

Edel snapped her fingers to get their attention. She was hesitant to have to interrupt them, but things had to be done. "Try my soup; it's wonderful, I promise." She insisted with a fair amount of arrogance in her voice.

Jack gave a small sigh and leaned over the table to grab a bowl.

Chase immediately jumped up and grabbed Jack's hand. "Do not eat the soup." He ordered. Jack was pretty occupied with the fact that Chase was touching him—and not hurting him, but Chase was slowly calming himself down. No good would come out of yelling at the girl.

"Wh-what's in the food?"

"Not poison." Edel stated, still proud despite having the plan foiled.

"There is an aphrodisiac in the food." His amber eyes narrowed onto Edel. Chase had been able identify the scent before anything had happened. Slowly, he let go of Jack's hand and moved back into his chair.

Edel placed her elbows on the table and set her head in her hands. The girl kept on grinning. "You should have just gone with it, but I see you want to make things difficult. This is a great opportunity for you."

He glared at Edel for a moment. Jack looked between the two, quite busy being completely confused. "Spicer, have you ever wondered why couples wait years after they've even gotten married to have kids?"

"Uh…"

Chase pointed to Edel. "This is why, Spicer."

Jack looked down to the food, hoping to pretend the insult hadn't occurred just as he usually did when name calling and digs were spoken. Then, of course, he realized the implications Chase had made. Chase knew about Edel. Fuck. He looked to Chase, slightly fearful, but the Heylin warrior made no move to touch the subject again—or kill Jack. Things seemed to be going great just because he was still alive.

Edel clapped her hands together. "I've got it!" She announced. It was like she just found out the meaning of life. "Lack of sex has forced you to repress all desires so that you wouldn't go insane."

The two males stared at her with confusion. Actually, Chase had a bit of irritation thrown in there, too.

Her gold eyes moved to Jack devotedly. "That's why Chase won't fuck you!" She explained happily. "I bet if you strip his mind will stop repressing it all and he'll jump you."

Chase, finally, let his voice rise. "Why would I jump him!" It was more like an insult than a question; the atmosphere was very heated at the moment.

However, Edel would not stand for such comments. Really. She bolted up from her seat with vehemence radiating from her being. "Because he wants you to!" She shouted back even louder than Chase had.

Now, Jack wasn't a "sissy". He didn't slink down into the chair. He didn't run off. He didn't even blush. He just averted his eyes and grimaced, waiting for the vicious pair to settle down so they could move past this. As aforementioned, he never denied being obsessed with Chase. It was others' naivety that denied them the assumption of him wanting the handsome man to pound his cock into Jack. Yeah, he wanted to be accepted as a true Heylin ally to Chase, but he also wanted to finally get some action.

Chase growled at her, not taking his eyes off her as he too rose up. "Spicer, control your pet!"

Edel raised her arms, claws extending out as she hissed. "I'm not a fucking pet, I'm the daughter and you two are the fucking—yes, the should be fucking—couple!"

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. "Edel…"

Chase produced his own claws and retaliated. "We are not together! You cannot always make reality how you want it to be!"

"Oh, is that supposed to be some sort of underlying hint at why you turned evil, or is that your excuse for not making a move on Jack?" Her volume had lowered some, but the malice in her words had increased.

There was a reason Chase meditated daily and this girl—his own flesh and blood—was making it all worthless. He could feel the burning desire to transform and kill escalating, but he had to refrain from doing so. It wasn't only a matter of pride, of course.

"Edel." Jack said, quietly, and surprisingly sternly. "I appreciate it, but it's not your place, nor anyone's, to do anything like this." He looked over Edel for a moment, and then to Chase. It was rare to see Chase get so worked up. It was even rarer to see it happen over someone who wasn't Jack. Watching it was odd for him, but also a good wake-up. "We've been a bother to you." He concluded slowly and hesitantly. "Sorry." He whispered the last, but knew well both of them would be able to hear it. Red eyes looked back to Edel.

She stood her ground, still standing and frowning. She didn't like the way things were when she had seen them. She didn't like it now that nothing was happening. But, she had the power to fix it. Somehow, someway, she knew she did. The arrogance might have played a part in obtaining that information for her, though. "It is my place, actually." She kept staring at Chase, but the malice had diminished to a careful, chiding tone. "Your focus is always on Jack when he's there. You don't watch the showdowns when Jack's in them. You watch Jack."

The immortal's eyes remained hard set in a glare.

So, she continued. "He's cute, isn't he?"

Jack stood up, a frown adorning his face. "Edel, you need to drop this. You're just making up random crap to piss him off. He _will_ kill us if he wants to. He hates us both; don't get us killed with your games."

It was a bit odd for Jack to be the one to try to cease the chaos—this sort of stressful antics was usually his fault.

The immortal sighed, calming down in an extremely quick manner. "Spicer, I would never kill you."

Edel took a few steps over to Chase and folded her arms. "Why, though?"

"Why," Chase repeated, clasping his hands behind his back in a more formal manner than Edel. "I must agree with Jack that that's none of your business."

Jack froze, understandably, of course. Edel just grinned triumphantly. It wasn't Spicer he had said, after all. No. He had said Jack. Currently, Jack's mind was pretty much having a panic attack. It was a happy panic attack, though.

Edel, if she hadn't the masterful control over herself that she did (and probably got from Chase), then she would have been shouting out something along the lines of "fuck, yes!" since things were surely going in the direction she wanted them to now. "Well," Relief was evident in her voice. "I'm going to go over to the Monks' temple to bug them. I'll be at their place until later tomorrow." When Chase finally looked back to her, she licked her lips motioned with her head to Jack. "Bye, boys."

Chase turned his auburn eyes back on Jack, not bothering to watch Edel walk out of the room. "You certainly do enjoy creating havoc, don't you?"

Jack gaped for a moment before mumbling. "It's a habit of mine…"

"So it is." He agreed with forced casualness.

There was one word to describe it all: awkward.

Second Note: This is called a cliffhanger…? I think… The next one shall be… fun to write. Or… Yeah.


End file.
